One Thing That Matters More Than Your Personal Breakthrough
We’re sitting along the creek on an unseasonably warm autumn day. The firmament hangs low and grey, like maybe the underbelly of heaven is brushing against us as we sit by the water. We’re talking about a personal breakthrough she’s been waiting for, and her words are spoken through tear-filled eyes.
She says she just doesn’t know why God would trick her like this.
She doesn’t know why he’d give her this dream and then slam the door closed in her face.
It feels like the meanest kind of joke, she says.
I sit with her words and offer her space to be honest about what she feels. Sometimes the best thing we can do is actually feel our feelings.
Feelings were meant to be felt.
She says it feels mean, what God did. And she’s not sure she can forgive him for it.
When the Breakthrough Doesn’t Come
As we sit by the water, my mind recalls a different conversation from years ago – a conversation in which a mentor looked me in the eyes and told me it was time for me to forgive God for not letting my dream come to fruition.
I told her I didn’t need to forgive God. I told her that I knew he was always right. How can you forgive someone who has never once done you wrong?
And that’s when she said it: Sometimes we need to forgive God, not because he was wrong, but so our own hearts can heal.
Sometimes we need to forgive God, not because he was wrong, but so our own hearts can heal. #healinginGod #forgiveness Click To TweetWe need to let go of the pain of that dream that died or the door that never opened. We need to stop holding it against him.
We sit in silence by the water for awhile, the breath of heaven blowing my young friend’s hair over her face. She doesn’t lift a hand to brush it away.
She’s waiting for me to speak. Maybe she’s waiting for a sermon.
Instead of a sermon, I tell her that I know how it feels to believe something with my whole heart and then watch as God slams the door shut in my face.
“But this is what I’ve realized,” I say, “Sometimes, God closes doors because what waits on the other side would destroy us if these doors opened wide.”
I tell her how my dream might have destroyed me if that door hadn’t slammed shut.
I tell her how there are plenty of dreams I’m still holding onto.
I’m still waiting for a breakthrough in more places than one, but there’s something that matters more than the breakthrough.
What Matters More Than Your Personal Breakthrough
Whether you’re ready to break through into your new calling, your new ministry, your next relationship, or that quiet dream that keeps you awake through the long hours of the night, the one thing that matters more than your personal breakthrough is this: The condition of your heart while you sit in the waiting room.
If you sit in the waiting room with a disgruntled attitude, God might just keep that door closed until your heart changes.
If you refuse to open your heart and allow God to prepare you in the waiting room, he might decide you can’t handle whatever is on the other side of the door.
The waiting room is the place where we grow.
Jesus spent somewhere around 30 years in the waiting room – waiting for God to open the door and launch him into public ministry.
Hannah spent years in the waiting room praying for a son. And God tested her in the waiting room. He tested her to see if she would grow hard and turn on him and give up on the dream of a child.
David spent years in the waiting room tending the flock of sheep before he could tend the flock of Israel.
Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness before he led God’s people out of slavery.
The Growth Along the Way
If God has kept the door closed on your dream, don’t lose heart. The growth that comes before the breakthrough is what will prepare you for the day when the breakthrough finally comes.
Here are a few things to do while you wait for your personal breakthrough:
1. Worship while you wait.
Teach me Your way, O Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.
I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And will glorify Your name forever. Psalm 86:11-12
2. Pray while you wait.
Pray without ceasing . . . 1 Thessalonians 5:17
3. Serve while you wait.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58
4. Keep a soft heart while you wait.
But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7
5. Give thanks while you wait.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12
~~~
When we stand to leave the brown water, I’m not sure my words have reached her heart. Turning to follow the muddy path out of the woods, she wipes a strand of loose hair from her face, and I think I see it in her eyes – a softening.
A Free Devotional to Help You Wait for Your Breakthrough
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